lördag 12 november 2016

Intel SSD Toolbox - installation fails, reboots Windows before installation is completed

The problem:
I wanted to install Intel SSD Toolbox 3.4.0.400. After clicking Next a few times in the wizard and the actual installation has started, Windows reboots and the installation is interrupted. Nothing of Intel SSD Toolbox is installedor changed.
Additionally, for each interrupted installation, a number of folders called "IIxxxx.tmp" (xxxx = random characters and numbers) are left in the C:\Windows\Temp folder, each containing 300+ MiB.

The cause:
The first thing the installer does, is to run the included vc_redist.x86.exe. This is the Visual C++ Redistributable runtime installer - essentially an installation program which installs a few DLLs that the toolbox apparently requires. On my computer, the VC++ runtime installer determined my computer needed to reboot. The Intel installer should have ran this installer with the command line that instructs the installer to suppress such reboots, but it does not.

The fix:
Download the installer.Run it.
Wait while "Please wait while setup initializes".
When the installer is waiting for you to hit Next at the first step, do NOT press it.
Instead, open C:\Windows\Temp.
Find the LAST folder (order by Modified date) called "IIxxxx.tmp". Check the modified time - it should be just a minute ago.
Open the Dependencies subfolder. It should contain a file called vc_redist.x86.exe file, and a few DLL files.
Rename the vc_redist.x86.exe file something else or delete it.
Find any other exe file - I picked C:\Windows\notepad.exe.
Copy it to the Dependencies folder and rename it to vc_redist.x86.exe.
Go back to the installation wizard and hit Next to let installation proceed.
Hopefully installation should be fine.
After completion, the installer will ask you properly to reboot. Do so.
After reboot, make sure to remove all of the "IIxxxx..tmp" folder in your Temp directory to avoid wasting disk space.
Complain to Intel that the installer has a bug.

Note: If the toolbox doesn't work properly, or if installation now fails at a later stage, you might have a problem with the VC++ runtimes. One thing to try then, is to follow the instructions above, but copy the vc_redist.x86.exe file to a separate folder and run it on its own by just double clicking it. It should show you a GUI offering to install, repair or uninstall the runtimes. You could also try downloading the runtimes from Microsoft.


Please leave me a comment if this helped you or not!

torsdag 1 september 2016

"Back to the Future: The Game" episodes 2-5 not downloading on iPad Mini

I played the first free episode of "Back to the Future: The Game" (1.6) on my iPad Mini (with iOS 9.3.5). Everything was fine and I decided to buy the bundle with episode 2-5. However, downloading the episodes (over wifi) persistently froze somewhere between 1% and 12%. After a long time, the game would then either close or give an error message about losing internet connection. I would then have to restart the download. I contacted Telltale's support, they responded quickly and with a lot of suggestions (restart the iPad, close all other apps, try another Wifi connection, keep trying, try a VPN), but neither of them made a difference.

I found this page where some people suggest using cellular data instead of wifi connection to get the episodes. That was not an option for me, as my iPad model is wifi only. However it gave me the idea to try to connect to the internet using internet sharing/tethering over Bluetooth from another device. Using Bluetooth internet sharing on my low end Lumia Windows Phone, I was able to download the episodes on the first attempt.
Note that similar Bluetooth internet sharing on an old HTC One M7 was not successful - the iPad was not able to connect to internet at all using that.

So - things to do if you suffer this issue:
- Contact Telltale support, even if you manage to solve this issue yourself using workarounds - if they do not know how many are having this issue, they wont fix it.
- Try either cellular data or Bluetooth internet sharing from another device, instead of Wifi, if you can.
- If it doesn't work over Bluetooth with your device - check if you have Internet connection at all over Bluetooth. If not, try another device, iOS is incompatible with many devices.
- Demand a refund if neither of the above helps.
- Mention this issue on App Store review etc.

Don't hesitate to leave a comment if this helped you or not!